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Who has the upper hand in every area of your life? I'm talking about every area. Are there some areas that are yours and other areas are God's? If the answer is yes, you can pray, lead us not into temptation a million times a day, it won't do you a bit of good. In alone time with his disciples, Jesus often taught and modeled the value of prayer.
He didn't teach a routine or demand a certain amount of time. He shared and lived a life that naturally led the disciples toward a relationship with the Father that ultimately guided them through life challenges that they faced. Welcome to Leading the Way with doctor Michael Youssef, and he's continuing a study of the Lord's Prayer and how teachable moments in the lives of the disciples can guide you when it comes to infusing power into your prayer life. Join me now in listening to Dr. Michael Youssef and his series, The Prayer That God Answers.
Does God tempt us? I love it. Half said yes, half said no.
Well, if he doesn't tempt us, then why do we pray in the Lord's Prayer and say, lead us not into temptation? We are talking to God the Father now, who is saying, God, Father, lead us not into temptation.
Now I've got to tell you up front. That This question has plagued theologians for nearly 2,000 years. Genuine scholars have fought on both sides of the issue. And part of the problem is basic misunderstanding of the term. It's basic misunderstanding of the word.
In fact, This probably is the most controversial sentence or petition in the Lord's Prayer. Our Father, oh, what a privilege. In heaven, oh, what a place. He's there and we're going to be with him there. Hallowed be your name.
Oh, what a joyful thing to do, to bless the name of the Lord. Your kingdom come into our lives and into our businesses, in our own homes. Oh, what an incredible longing, desire in all of our hearts to love the Lord. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. What a Form and a cry of surrender.
Give us this day our daily bread. What an expression of dependence upon our Heavenly Daddy. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. That's a challenge. to be like God.
and be imitators of God. But lead us not into temptation. It's a little bit perplexing when you really think about it. And this perplexity becomes even more pertinent. When we compare verses 2 and 3 of James chapter 1 with verses 13 and 14 of the same chapter, James chapter 1.
I want you to mark those verses in your Bibles. Verse 2, beginning of verse 2 of chapter 1 of James. Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials. For you know that the testing of your faith produced steadfastness. Beginning at verse 13.
Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. The word trial and the word temptation is the same word.
So that's, I'm going to give you a clue here to help you out. It's the same word.
So what is James saying? On the one hand, he says, you know, count it all joy when you are tempted. And then he says, well, God doesn't tempt anybody. What is he doing here? The Greek word That is used both in verse 2 and in verse 13 is the same word.
And in order to understand what it means, lead us into temptation, petition means. We must understand the use of that particular Greek word.
Now, peresimos is a neutral word. It is used to translate it into English temptation and is also translated testing. Same word. Because it is a neutral word, it can be used to mean testing or it can be used to mean tempting. It can be used to in a very positive terms or it can be used in a negative term, depending on the sentence.
Okay. The word can be used to mean seduction to evil or it can mean revealing one's moral character. It can be used to mean to deceive or it can be used to mean undeceive. It can be used aiming to lead us into sin or it can lead us out of sin. Satan used that word And when he uses it, it is tempting us.
God used that same word, but when he uses it, it is testing us. That is what the confusion comes from. And you find people on both sides of the aisle the different meaning of the same word and they so entrenched absolutely would not understand, refused to understand this little dilemma that we have in terms of semantics and language. Satan tempts us, but God sometimes permits it so that He may test us. I want to give you an illustration, and I hope that as I give you that illustration, you'll understand what I'm trying to tell you.
When the Union Pacific Railway was being constructed and moving west, There was a place where an elaborate trestle bridge had to be built. And it had to be built on top of a very large canyon. wanting to test his bridge, The build that loaded a train with enough extra cars and equipment to double its normal payload. And he got the train right in the middle, got it driven right in the middle of the bridge, and there he left it for 24 hours.
Some people said, you crazy. Are you trying to destroy the bridge that you built? He said, Absolutely not. What I'm trying to do is to prove that the bridge will not break. In the same way, when the Bible said the Holy Spirit sent Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan, what God the Father was doing is that He allowed this to happen in order to see not that Jesus can sin, but that Jesus would not sin.
Here's what it means. Satan tempts us. God tests us. I want to tell you, every time Satan comes and tries to tempt you, Whatever it is, the area, you're Achilles heel, in which he comes to tempt you. If and when you understand the authority and the power that God has given you to defeat Him and to be in victory, and you do it, and you have the victory, I believe God in heaven says, Here goes my boy, here goes my girl.
You see, Satan's intention is to drive us to evil, but God's intention is to give us power over Satan to defeat him. Satan's intention is to defeat us, but God's intention is for us to appropriate his power and know how to do that in order to have victory. Satan's intention is to discourage us, but it is God's intention for us to have courage in the middle of discouragement. Satan's intention is to entice us to do our thing, but it is God's intention for us to be conformed into the image of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Satan's intention is to make us feel bad about ourselves, but it is God's intention for us to feel good about our heavenly daddy.
It is Satan's intention to make us self-centeredness to be first and foremost in our lives, but God's intention for us is for Him and His glory to be first. and foremost in our lives. That's the understanding of this verse. Lead us not into temptation. You know, I uh I was thinking about the steps.
that Satan often used. in order to lead us into temptation. And I'm not going to give you personal illustration. I'm just going to give it to you from the scripture. It's exactly the same steps that he used when he got to Adam and Eve in the garden.
Watch those steps because Satan is not a very creative person. He's dumb. He has one method and he uses it everywhere. He just tailor makes it to fit your life. He telemakes it to fit your Achilles' heels.
He telemakes it to fit your particular weakness. Here's the first step. Begin by confusing your will with the will of God. And you begin to think, well, I believe God would have me do this, no? He got your will and the will of God confused.
He's going to bring doubt about the authority of the Word of God into your life. He's going to muddy the clarity of the Word of God. You know what He's going to do? He's going to say Nobody can really be sure about this. And that's exactly what he did with Adam and Eve.
Listen, he did not go to Adam and Eve and said, hello, Adam, Eve. Starts with Eve. He did not say, look, my name is Satan. And I want to be upfront with you. I'm here to get you to disobey God.
And he could have said all the bad things about God. You know what? Eve would not have fallen for it.
Now he didn't do that. What did he do? He came and he said, Are you really sure? That this is what God meant by this? Are you sure?
Yeah. Then he comes in and he tempts them. As he does with all believers. Oh, I think you're just narrowly interpreting this particular passage in the scripture. You know, there are so many interpretations about this.
How do you know which one is really the right interpretation? You know what? God gave you your brains, and He wants you to use them the best you know how. You know, the Bible is relevant to the olden days, but today, God, oh, He's very understanding. After all, everybody is doing, you know what?
Whenever you hear the word everybody from the devil, you better run. As long as you don't intend to hurt anybody. Surely you are on safe grounds. Oh But remember You're not going to be judged by the God of the Old Testament who zapped everybody all the time. You're going to be judged by the God of the New Testament who is very understanding.
Listen to these modern preachers. I want to tell you.
Well, understanding my foot. Think I'm the second step. The second step Satan uses is to appeal to your natural desires. He appeals to our passion. He appeals to our covetousness.
He appeals to our curiosity. And he appeals to that area. He knows it well. You know, like an angler who basically Presents the bait and hides the hook.
Somebody said that Satan is not such a fool. as to fish without bait. And he will allow you only to see, and he will show you only the glamorous side of the wrongdoing. And he hides. Their light of shame.
and hurt. and pain. and guilt. He hides that. And that's exactly what he did with Adam and Eve.
He presented them with a picture of them becoming like God. And that had a tremendous appeal. I was reflecting afresh this week, you know, and I thought. If Satan came to Eve, with the fruit, whatever it may be. And then Eve would have seen in that fruit A big worm.
wiggling there, seeing its tail wiggling. And he would say, Look, take this, he's going to make you like God. I just wondered what her reaction would be. Probably she would not have fallen for it. Most likely, she would have ran to Adam and she would have said, Addie, my darling.
Do something about this man, who wants me to eat this worm that's in the fruit. But he didn't. He only showed her one side. He told them about that self-fulfillment that's going to be theirs. He told them about how happy they're going to be, and oh, surely God wants me to be happy.
It's the biggest trap of modern day Christians. God wants it to be joyful. Not necessarily the happiness of the world it talks about. Oh, it must have felt so good to dream of all that power and all of that control and all of that authority. And man, their ego began to blow up.
Like a balloon. And the bigger the balloon, The smaller the pin it needed to. Get the air out of it. Then comes the third step. It is a step of persuasion.
Listen, if Satan can get you to toy with the idea in your head. He's halfway there. If he can get you to entertain the idea, if he can get you to play with it in your mind, Once You begin to do that. He knows that he's halfway there. If he can convince you that you can join the rat race without becoming one of the rats, he is almost there.
When Eve got to that point, The natural thing, of course, was the natural next natural step is to try it. But what happens once the first bite is taken? Yeah. Once that first bite is taken, he's going to convince her that one bite is not enough, one drink is not enough, one lie is not enough, one look is not enough, one visit is not enough, one try is not enough. And once you are in his clutches, He wants to keep you there.
Once you are in his camp, he wants to imprison you there. Once you are in his service, he wants to hold you there. Once he made a beachhead into your life. And he got you to believe that that area is under your control and you can do whatever you want, he is there. Because he wants to stay cozy and warm in that area in your life.
in that apartment, in the apartment building of your mind. Even when you pray a million times a day, lead me not into temptation, lead us not into temptation, ain't gonna do one bit of good. You know why? Because at that point your prayer is so faint. It's half-hearted.
Okay. You're not really serious about it. And Satan knows that. You see, when he has a stronghold in your life. Resisting that temptation or his temptation, not just even in that area, in other areas, going to be hard.
It's going to be difficult. Not because God cannot deliver you, not because God cannot save you, not because God can cleanse you and take authority over that area. No, because you are half-hearted about it. It's like this old lady who got involved in some Bonza scheme of investment. And this poor dear lady lost everything.
And just out of desperation, she called the Better Business Bureau. And she told them what happened. And the man on the other side, he said, but that's a bogus institution. Did you not know about this? Did you not know about us?
Why didn't you call us before you made the investment? She said, Oh yes, I knew all about you. But the reason I didn't want to call you It's because I knew you're going to tell me no. is because you're going to tell me No. And millions of people throughout the world Pray this prayer, out of habit.
Churches all over the world, people go in and rattle the Lord's Prayer and lead us not into temptation, and they walk out leading themselves into temptation. And that is why this prayer is for those who have put all areas of their lives under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. It is for those who have put all areas of their life under the authority. of God the Holy Spirit. Then comes the fourth.
step, the final step. in Satan's Morus operande. Once you are there, filled with guilt and shame and discouragement, he wants you to stay there. He will tell you that you can't get out of where you are.
Okay. He's going to tell you that you are not able to get out of it. He will tell you, you put yourself there. You are in that mess because you did it. Might as well stay in it.
Enjoy yourself. God cannot forgive you. You are beyond forgiveness. And so the lie continues. Satan is going to do whatever in his power.
to stop you from repenting. and turning to the Lord. Satan is going to do all within his power to keep you from taking this area and absolutely, decisively. Yeah. Offering it to the Lord for cleansing and for domination by the Holy Spirit.
He will do all he can to stop you from doing that. And the way he gets you to stay where you are, the way he gets you to stay in your defeat, is by getting you to make an excuse for your sin, making you rationalize it in your head. He makes you able to hide your defeat. He's getting you able to conceal the deception in your life, not only from others, but even God. He can convince you that you can hide it from God.
And at that point you will feel deep down a separation. from your Heavenly Father.
Some of you may be there right now. You will put on a good Christian front, but deep down you are concealing, you are rationalizing, you are hiding your defeat. You will put on a public Christian mask, but deep down you have given up on deliverance and victory. And that's exactly what Satan did with Adam. And Eve.
They were cut off from open and frank and honest conversation that they used to have with the Lord on a regular basis. He cut them off from that. Why? Because they were hiding something. And when God came to meet them, they were in despair, and they thought that they could hide from God.
And God called out, where are you? And don't believe for a moment that God did not know where they were. What God was asking Adam, he was saying, Adam, do you know where you are in your defeat? Let me ask you this. Please be honest with yourself.
Do you know where you are? when you are defeated. I believe God is calling you this very day. And he is calling you by name. Do you know where you are?
Do you know where you are defeated? Do you know where Satan's beach head in your life is? Do you know that in your drifting you have separated yourself from me? I cannot be separated from you, but you are separating yourself from me. Come back because God wants to give you his victory.
Listen to JB Phillips' translation. of James chapter one Verses two, three, and four. when all kinds of trials and temptations Crowd into your life, my brothers. Do not resent them as intruders. But welcome them as friends.
Realize that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance. But let the process go on until that endurance is fully developed, and you will find that you have become a man, and I want to put in parentheses here, a woman of mature character with the right sort of independence. That is why it is absolutely proper Perfectly legitimate for the child of God, the dedicated Christian, who have put all areas of their life under the control of God, the Holy Spirit, to cry out and say, Daddy. Lead me not into temptation. But even so, His promise for us is that even in the times of temptation, He will give us a way of escape.
Even in the times of trials and testing, He's going to open a door of deliverance. Even in the times of trials and testing, He will open an escape hatch. For he never tests us beyond our ability to bear. Lead us not into temptation is for those who have surrendered all areas of their lives. Dr.
Michael Yusa and questions to consider as he continues his series: the prayer that God answers. Hey, we thank you for listening. And if you'd like to know more about what it means to walk and talk with Jesus, let me encourage you to begin a conversation with one of the leading the way pastors or counselors. Just fill out a short form at ltw.org slash Jesus. And if Dr.
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